Blog Archives

1918 – World War I
A proposal for the widening of Guilbeau Street, between South Flores and Garden Streets (Now S. St. Mary’s), is to be presented to the city council soon. This would give direct connection between the east and west sides of the city and at a point adjacent to the Katy passenger station.

1958
Dr. Wendell Stanley, Nobel prize-winning director of the virus laboratory of the University of California at Berkeley, and Dr. Sidney Farber (right), director of the Children’s Cancer Research foundation in Boston, are in San Antonio for the annual trustees’ meeting of the Southwest Foundation for Research and Education.

1968
Bob Hope performs a show during Hemisfair in Hemisfair Arena with special guests Marilyn Maxwell and the Marquis Chimps.

1918 – World War I
Owing to the prompt and efficient work of the Kelly Field fire department and the military police, the fire that broke out in general headquarters this morning was promptly extinguished with damage of not more than $500.

1958
A plan for a “hemisfair” – a world’s fair for Latin American countries and the U.S. – was being considered today. A chamber of commerce committee decided to probe the possibility of having such a fair in 1960.

1986
Sculptor Lincoln Borglum, who completed his father Gutzon’s work on Mount Rushmore in 1941, is buried in City Cemetery #1. Borglum died on January 27 in a Corpus Christi hospital.

1917 – World War I
An effort is being made to establish a thrift special train service in Texas to teach the housewives how to can, pickle and preserve vegetables and fruit and otherwise conserve the food supply, according toe Allen R. Howard of Dallas, who was in the city yesterday.

1958If new sources of water are not found for San Antonio in the next four years, the city is going to be up a creek and a dry one at that. This was the contention today of R. A. Thompson Jr., general manager of the water board, as he outlined San Antonio’s future water needs.

1980 San Antonio Dodgers pitcher Fernando Valenzuela fans 15 batters in a 3-0 win over Amarillo. The 19-year-old lefty allowed just two hits in the second half of the season and struck out 162 batters in 174 innings.

1917 – World War I
Federal Marshal John H. Rogers this morning began checking over the names of German alien enemies who have permits to go within a half-mile of army properties and comparing them with a list of such aliens known to reside or work within the prohibited area. The an nouncement was made that those who have not applied for permits will be arrested at once if located within the forbidden territory. The President’s proclamation, which bars German alien enemies from going or remaining within a half mile of the army post, the arsenal and the aviation camp, went into effect this morning. In all, more than 200 German alien enemies have obtained the requisite permission to stay or go within the half mile area.

1929The Smith-Young Tower [now Tower Life Building] is completed at a cost of $3 million. It will be the tallest building west of the Mississippi River until the late 1950s. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.

1958
Northeast High School is officially renamed Douglas MacArthur High School.

1947
The San Antonio Public Library has obtained four films that are now available for viewing by all patrons with library cards. The films are: “The House I Live In,” Frank Sinatra’s film on racial tolerance (below); “Public Opinion,” a film showing how public opinion develops; “The Diary of a Sergeant,” a film showing rehabilitation of a veteran without hands; and “The Story of Texas – Her Natural Resources.”

1958
Chuck Jefferson, Woodridge School third grader, was homeward bound with $32,000 he won on the “$64,000 Question” TV show. “I wanted to go on (for $64,000), but my parents decided I should quit. It’s too big of a risk. Sometimes I think parents are too nervous.”

1991Robert E. Lee high school votes to ban the Confederate flag from uniforms and activities sponsored by the school beginning in the fall. “We are not going to suspend students if they have it on a T-shirt or backpack; that’s an individual choice,” said Lee Principal Bill Fish. “But as an institution, we are not going to use it. We’ve been trying to do this gradually over time,” he said, adding that new football uniforms have been ordered without the flag to replace old ones.

1861On this day 156 years ago, a militia of 1,000 armed Texans, calling themselves “The Knights of the Golden Circle,” surrounded U.S. Gen. David E. Twiggs’s 160-man garrison at San Antonio, forcing the general to surrender. Union soldiers were allowed to leave the state carrying their arms, but $1.6 million of government property was left to be seized by the Confederacy. Texas took possession of the 20 military installations, 44 cannon, 1,900 muskets, 400 pistols, 2 magazines of ammunition, 500 wagons, and 950 horses. Twiggs’s unwillingness to fire upon Texans in the streets of their own cities was not appreciated in the North. What he viewed as an attempt to avoid bloodshed, most Unionists saw as a part of a Southern conspiracy for which Twiggs was mercilessly vilified. On March 1, 1861, Twiggs was dismissed from the Union Army by President Buchanan. Ten weeks later he was commissioned as a Major General in the Confederate Army and transferred to New Orleans to command the District of Louisiana. Twiggs retired shortly thereafter and died at age 72 near Augusta, Georgia on July 15, 1862.

1927
A. J. Drossaerts becomes the first archbishop of San Antonio at noon today. In San Fernando Cathedral, crowded to the doors by the thousands, the wool band with four crosses was placed on his shoulders by Archbishop John W. Shaw of New Orleans.

1958
Sam Cooke appears at the Municipal Auditorium with the Silhouettes, Thurston Harris, The Dubs, The Drifters and Ernie Freeman & his Orchestra.

1958
A plan for a “hemisfair” – a world’s fair for Latin American countries and the U.S. – was being considered today. A chamber of commerce committee decided to probe the possibility of having such a fair in 1960.

1968
A rare copy of a Mexican newspaper containing the earliest known official announcement of the fall of the Alamo is now on display at the Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library next to the Alamo. The newspaper dated March 21, 1836, was acquired from Maury A. Bromsen, a rare books and manuscripts dealer in Boston.

1980
The O’Jays, Cameo and Phyllis Hyman play a concert in Convention Center Arena.

Thursday, May 24, 2018, 1 – 1:45pm Low impact workouts are a great way to get active while reducing the risk of injury! Low Impact Circuit Training classes are easier on the body removing certain exercises that place more stress on the hip & knee joints; running/sprinting and jumping. The goal of each class is to provide a total body workout. Branch Loca […]

Thursday, May 24, 2018, 3:30 – 5pm [For ages 13 to 18 only] Come hang out to cure your boredom and make new friends (or see your old ones). Weekly activities vary, and it's up to you to help decide what we do.Join us as we play your pick from a variety of different video games! Branch Location: Tobin Library Address: 4134 Harry Wurzbach, San Antonio, TX […]

Thursday, May 24, 2018, 4 – 5pm Need help downloading eBooks to your tablet or phone? Sign up for a 30 minute one on-one-session and library staff will assist you in learning how to use your mobile device, tablet, or new laptop in conjunction with downloading digital content from SAPL such as eBooks, eAudiobooks, and movies. Bring your device and account inf […]